This is not a useful analysis. Insurance / protection plans are not a good deal if you can self-insure. Over time, with consumer items, it is usually less expensive to bear the risk of loss yourself. Characterizing someone as "cheap" when they make an informed choice is simply inflammatory and doesn't advance the discussion.
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Did you guys buy any sort of protection plan?
- Thread starter littlehuman
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This is not a useful analysis. Insurance / protection plans are not a good deal if you can self-insure. Over time, with consumer items, it is usually less expensive to bear the risk of loss yourself. Characterizing someone as "cheap" when they make an informed choice is simply inflammatory and doesn't advance the discussion.
I guess I'm in the minority here. Yes I did buy an Apple Care plan for my IPad. I also bought it for my iPod touch 2nd gen. After I had the touch for just over a year the battery crapped out. Six months after that the wi-fi went out on the replacement. Both were replaced immediately. No fuss no muss. Apple products a pretty bulletproof, unless they are mistreated. But, they are electronic devices and parts can, and do go bad. The biggest question you need to ask yourself is how much risk are you willing to take? Some insurance companies are selling plans to cover phones, iPads and other devices against accidental damage. My friend bought one for her iPhone 4 and I think it was $40 for the year.
i buy my protection plans selectively and carefully. i buy them on sale in the case of squaretrade or in the case of applecare, on ebay. i also only buy them based on the liklihood of needing the repairs do to the abuse they will endure in my life and their liklihood of failure.
desktops - never, except on dell desktops for mission critical work pc's where their 4 hour on site is worth its weight in gold if you need it.
laptops- apple care always, and it has always paid off. for the new air i might reevaluate and consider squaretrade instead of applecare.
ipods - never. their cost to replace is low and their critical lifespan is relatively short.
phones - the potential for me to drop and break is high so yes to squaretrade. bad value if you compare it to the subsidized price, not so bad when you compare to the replacement cost you will pay. i guess that apple will sell you a refurb for less is a consideration i havent considered, but still, i almost always without exception have destroyed a phone a year. this is my first iphone and so far i only dropped it (almost daily) the first couple weeks i had it but since then never, so this one might outlast the warranty.
ipad - i carry it with me always and in a barely protective case, so the likelihood of damage is high. squaretrade.
cameras - sony usually has some sort of promotion for their extended care making it a no brainer since again, i am hard on my portable electronics and the likelihood of failure or damage is high.
desktops - never, except on dell desktops for mission critical work pc's where their 4 hour on site is worth its weight in gold if you need it.
laptops- apple care always, and it has always paid off. for the new air i might reevaluate and consider squaretrade instead of applecare.
ipods - never. their cost to replace is low and their critical lifespan is relatively short.
phones - the potential for me to drop and break is high so yes to squaretrade. bad value if you compare it to the subsidized price, not so bad when you compare to the replacement cost you will pay. i guess that apple will sell you a refurb for less is a consideration i havent considered, but still, i almost always without exception have destroyed a phone a year. this is my first iphone and so far i only dropped it (almost daily) the first couple weeks i had it but since then never, so this one might outlast the warranty.
ipad - i carry it with me always and in a barely protective case, so the likelihood of damage is high. squaretrade.
cameras - sony usually has some sort of promotion for their extended care making it a no brainer since again, i am hard on my portable electronics and the likelihood of failure or damage is high.
Uhh dude- you just resurrected a two- week old thread to comment on how I didn't "advance the discussion." Brilliant on your part.
Also, if you would have read my other posts and not taken them out of context like you just did, you would see that I WAS advancing the discussion. Brilliant again.
I bought the plan for my MBP, but not the iPad. I figure that I will either sell it or pass it down within the next two years so the plan really wouldn't be worth it. I kind of have a $600 rule - anything over that I MIGHT buy protection for. I would NEVER buy Best Buy plan - they have made it nigh impossible to get fixed/replaced on the items I purchased it for.
I say get squaretrade it's $95 and covers everything apple does and damage. Their service is great I dropped my iphone 4 twice and both times it was broken badly.. had it fixed for the deductible of $50. so 200/2 = 100 for each drop. cheaper then apple.. also my friend dropped it after that.. so now 250/3 = 83 per break.. you can't beat that 
just my .02 cents
ps. yes I know I am talking about the iphone but it's he same concept... same deductible
just my .02 cents ps. yes I know I am talking about the iphone but it's he same concept... same deductible
I say get squaretrade it's $95 and covers everything apple does and damage. Their service is great I dropped my iphone 4 twice and both times it was broken badly.. had it fixed for the deductible of $50. so 200/2 = 100 for each drop. cheaper then apple.. also my friend dropped it after that.. so now 250/3 = 83 per break.. you can't beat that
ps. yes I know I am talking about the iphone but it's he same concept... same deductible
damn dude - i'm surprise they've not cancelled your insurance yet - you're a high risk!!!!